TWI627351B - Path generation method for photographing wind turbine surface used by unmanned aerial vehicles, computer program product with stored programs and computer readable medium with stored programs - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention mainly discloses a method for generating a path of fan blade photography by using an unmanned flying vehicle, which is used for solving the problem that the sampling path of the leaf surface is not good. The method is performed by an electronic control module for generating an unmanned aerial vehicle traveling path. The method comprises the steps of: setting a reference line of each blade of the fan in a stopped state on a virtual blade rotation surface; and the virtual The blade rotating surfaces are outwardly expanded a distance along the reference line to form a leaf circumference trajectory as a flight path for controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle to sequentially circumscribe the blades along the flight path. Thereby, the above problems can be effectively solved.

Description

A method for generating a method for the operation of a fan blade by using an unmanned aerial vehicle, and a computer program for a storage program Computer-readable recording medium for products and internal storage programs

The invention relates to a method and a device for image capturing an object; in particular to a method for generating a path of a fan blade by using an unmanned aerial vehicle.

With the increasing awareness of environmental protection and the demand for electricity, the traditional use of boilers to generate steam to promote the power generation of turbines requires the use of fuels, which do not meet environmental requirements, such as: thermal power generation will emit soot, nuclear power will generate nuclear waste, etc., so gradually Develop low-pollution green energy sources, such as wind, solar, water, tidal, ocean current, geothermal, and other methods of generating electricity.

Among them, wind power generation can be applied to a large number of power supply requirements. For example, wind turbines (hereinafter referred to as wind turbines) can be installed on land or offshore wind farms, and wind turbines can be used to drive wind turbines to generate electric energy, while wind conditions are good. Most of the wind farms are located in open areas. As long as the wind farms have the conditions to continuously generate airflow, electricity can be generated regardless of day, night, yin and sunny, and can be used for longer power generation.

The blades of the fan are exposed to the wind for a long time, and the leaves will inevitably be damaged and affect the power generation efficiency. Therefore, the leaf surface should be inspected regularly. Taking Taiwan's offshore wind farm as an example, the annual period for maintenance is about April to October. The number of manpower and vessels required for manual visual inspection and touch inspection methods is huge, and the inspection cost is high and it takes a long time. In order to improve this situation, we have developed a customary The method of operating the aircraft to inspect the fan blades, as shown in Fig. 1, firstly maneuvering an aircraft 9 to fly in front of the stopped fan 8, photographing the camera 91 toward the blades 81 of the fan 8, and then winding the fan 8 Thereafter, the camera 91 is photographed toward the blade 81 of the fan 8, but when the fan 8 is stopped for inspection, the camera 91 can only obtain an image close to the leaf edge 81a of the blade 81 in the above direction, and cannot face the blade 81. The leaf surface 81b is photographed, so it is necessary to re-plan the flight path of the image taking process to facilitate accurate acquisition of the image of the leaf surface 81b.

In view of this, it is necessary to improve the shortcomings of the prior art described above to meet practical needs and improve its practicability.

The invention provides a method for generating a path of a fan blade photograph by using an unmanned aerial vehicle, and can obtain an image toward the surface of the fan blade to check whether the fan blade is damaged or not.

The present invention further provides a computer readable recording medium for a computer program product and a memory program of the internal storage program, which can be used to perform the above method.

The invention discloses a method for generating a path of a fan blade by utilizing an unmanned aerial vehicle, which is implemented by an electronic control module for generating an unmanned aerial vehicle, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle flies around a plurality of blades of a wind turbine. The plurality of blades are equiangularly separated, and each of the blades is expanded from a central axis to two sides to form two side edges, and the central axis of each blade is coplanar with a virtual blade rotation surface, and each blade has a blade tip and a blade root, each of which has a blade tip and a blade root The blade root of the blade is pivotally coupled to one of the hubs of the fan by the central axis, and the edge of each of the blades of the fan in the stopped state is oriented toward the extension of the hub of the fan. The step includes: setting a reference line of each blade of the fan in the stopped state on the virtual blade rotation surface; and expanding the pitch of the virtual blade rotation surface equidistantly along the reference line to form a leaf circumference trajectory as a flight a path for controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle to sequentially circumscribe the blades along the flight path.

The electronic control module can obtain characteristic information of the fan from a servo platform, and can Obtaining shutdown information to the control system of the wind turbine; the characteristic information may include a geographic coordinate of the wind turbine, a height of a hub of the wind turbine, a horizontal distance from a tower top to a hub of the wind turbine, and the blade is from a blade root to a tip The distance between each point and the distance between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the leaf surface, the shutdown information includes a deflection angle of one of the blades of the fan and a yaw angle of the nacelle of the fan; the distance is equidistant along the reference line The distance between the outer expansions may be between 1 and 5 meters; the reference line may be the edge of each blade or the edge of the section of the blade that is cut by the virtual blade rotation surface; the flight path There may be several anchor points located at the turning point of the flight path; the anchor points may be adjacent to the tip or root of each blade.

The invention further discloses a computer program product of a storage program and a computer readable recording medium of a storage program, which can be completed when an electronic control module for fan leaf photography work is loaded into the computer program and executed. The above method.

The computer-readable recording medium for the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for fan blade photography, the computer program product of the internal storage program and the internal storage program can be used to plan for correct ingestion when the fan is in a shutdown state. a flight path of the fan blade image for controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle to automatically fly around the opposite two-leaf surface of the plurality of blades of the fan, sequentially photographing the different leaf faces, and outputting the photographic result to the servo platform, Achieve the effects of "successful intake of fan leaf image" and "shortening fan leaf surface inspection time".

[study]

9‧‧‧Aircraft

91‧‧‧ camera

8‧‧‧Fan

81‧‧‧ leaves

81a‧‧‧Fang

81b‧‧‧Foliage

D‧‧‧Horizontal distance from the central axis of the tower of the wind turbine to the center of the rotating surface of the blade

〔this invention〕

1‧‧‧ body

11‧‧‧ head end

2‧‧‧Power components

3‧‧‧Image capture components

4a, 4b‧‧‧ range finder

5‧‧‧Communication unit

6‧‧‧Electric control module

7‧‧‧Fan

71‧‧‧ blades

711‧‧‧Foliage

712‧‧‧ side edge

713‧‧‧ tip

714‧‧‧ Ye Gen

72‧‧‧ hub

73‧‧‧Cabin

E‧‧‧ center axis

P‧‧‧ flight path

P _n ‧‧‧ anchor point

V‧‧‧Rotating surface of the blade

U‧‧‧Unmanned aerial vehicle

T‧‧‧ section area

I, J, K, X, Y, Z‧‧ Direction

S1‧‧‧Set benchmark steps

S2‧‧‧ Calculation of flight path steps

c‧‧‧The distance between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the foliage

D‧‧‧ Horizontal distance from the central axis of the tower of the wind turbine to the center of the rotating surface of the blade

h‧‧‧The height of the hub of the fan

r‧‧‧The distance from the blade root to the point between the tip of the blade

r ₁ ,r ₂ ,...,r _n ‧‧‧The point from the blade root to the tip of the blade

Φ‧‧‧ deflection angle of the blades of the fan

偏‧‧‧The yaw angle of the cabin of the fan

X ₀ , Y ₀ , Z ₀ ‧‧‧ Geographical coordinates of the fan

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a method for a person to operate a aircraft to inspect a fan blade.

Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of an unmanned aerial vehicle used in an embodiment of the method of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of the flight path of an embodiment of the method of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a schematic flow diagram of an embodiment of the method of the present invention.

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing coordinate conversion of an embodiment of the method of the present invention.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more <RTIgt; "Connected" means that signals are transmitted between two electronic devices by means of coupling techniques (e.g., electromagnetic or optical coupling, etc.), but it is not limited thereto, and can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains.

The "unmanned aerial vehicle" (UAV) described in the full text of the present invention refers to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can be used for high-altitude imaging, but is not limited thereto. Those of ordinary skill in the art will understand.

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of the unmanned aerial vehicle of the present invention. The unmanned aerial vehicle for inspecting the fan blade may include a body 1, at least one power component 2, an image capturing component 3, two range finder 4a, 4b, a communication unit 5, and an electronic control module 6. The power unit 2 can be provided with the power component 2, the image capturing component 3, the range finder 4a, 4b, the communication unit 5 and the electronic control module 6. The electronic control module 6 can electrically connect the power component 2 and the image capturing component. 3. Range finder 4a, 4b and communication unit 5.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the body 1 can be any configuration suitable for high altitude photography of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); the power assembly 2 can be any power that can move an unmanned aerial vehicle. Generating a structure, such as: a propeller power module, etc.; the image capturing component 3 can be a device having an image capturing direction and a near-far adjusting function to obtain an image of the front or side of the body 1; the two range finder 4a, 4b can For a device having a distance sensing function, such as an optical range finder or an ultrasonic range finder, the two range finder 4a, 4b can respectively detect whether there is an object in the space above and below the body 1 (such as a fan) The related structure and the like) prevent the object 1 from colliding with objects in the space to ensure smooth operation of the foliar image capturing operation.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2, the communication unit 5 can be a communication module with communication functions, such as: a universal serial bus (USB), a blue-tooth, and a mobile communication (mobile). Communication module and the like, the communication unit 5 can be coupled to a servo platform (not shown), such as a mobile computing device, a cloud server or a fan control system, for transmitting and receiving for checking the fan The relevant information of the blade and the computer program, such as: manipulation command, fan position, blade image or flight path generation program of the unmanned flight vehicle, etc., for the electronic control module 6 as a reference for subsequent control operations; the electronic control module 6 can For modules with signal generation and data processing functions, such as: microcontroller (MCU), digital signal processor (DSP), embedded system (Embeded System), computing control card (Computing Control Cards) or industrial computer (IPC) The electronic control module 6 can execute a control logic (such as a software program or a hardware circuit) to perform a foliar imaging operation.

Referring to FIG. 3 again, an embodiment of the method for generating a blade surface of a fan using the unmanned aerial vehicle of the present invention is provided for the electronic control module 6 to be executed, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle U surrounds the fan. 7 of the blades 71 fly, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, the blades 71 of the fan 7 are equally spaced, and each blade 71 is expanded from a central axis E to the sides to form two side edges 712, each blade The central axis E of the 71 is coplanar with a virtual blade rotation surface V, and the blade rotation surface V can be a plane or a cone surface, and each blade 71 has a blade tip 713 and a blade root 714, and the blade root 714 of each blade 71 The central axis E is pivotally coupled to one of the hubs 72 of the fan 7, and any one of the side edges 712 of the blades 71 of the fan 7 in the stopped state is extended toward the hub 72 of the fan 7. Direction I.

Please refer to FIG. 4 , which is a schematic flow chart of an embodiment of a method for generating a blade surface of a fan using the unmanned aerial vehicle of the present invention. The steps of the method may include: a setting reference step S1 and a calculating flight path step S2. The setting reference step S1 sets a reference line of each blade 71 of the fan 7 in the stopped state to the virtual blade rotation surface V. In an embodiment, the reference line can be selected as the central axis E of each blade 71. In another embodiment, the reference line may be selected as an edge of the cross-sectional area T of the blade 71 that is cut by the blade rotation surface V; the calculated flight path step S2 is tied to the virtual blade rotation surface V along the reference line. The edges are equally spaced outwardly by a distance c to form a leaf-peripheral trajectory M as the flight path P (see FIG. 3) for controlling the unmanned aerial vehicle U to sequentially circumscribe the flight path P along the flight path P. Around the leaf surface 711 of the blade 71. In one embodiment, the reference line is selected as the central axis E of the blade 71, and the calculated flight path step S2 is outwardly expanded along the central axis E of the blade 71 on the virtual blade rotation surface V. The pitch c is such that the leaf-peripheral trajectory M is formed as the flight path P. In another embodiment, the reference line is selected as an edge of the cross-sectional area T of the blade 71 that is cut by the blade rotation surface V, and the calculated flight path step S2 is along the edge of the virtual blade rotation surface V along the cross-sectional area T. The spacing c is expanded outwardly equidistantly to form the circumferential track M as the flight path P.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the flight path P may have a plurality of positioning points P _n, P _n may be the anchor point adjacent to the turning point P of the flight path, such as: the tip of each blade 71 or 713 The blade root 714 or the like, but not limited thereto, when the unmanned aerial vehicle U deviates from the flight path P, the adjacent positioning point P _n can be utilized as the target of the correction path to avoid excessive deviation from the flight path P. The following is an example of a coordinate conversion method when the flight path control method of the unmanned aerial vehicle is set to the flight path P.

Referring to the second, third, and fifth figures, the communication unit 5 assists in transmitting and receiving signals. The electronic control module 6 can obtain characteristic information of the fan 7 from the servo platform in advance, such as a geographic coordinate (X ₀ , Y ₀ , Z ₀ ), the height (h) of the hub 72 of the fan 7, the horizontal distance from the central axis of the tower of the fan 7 to the center of the blade rotating surface V (on the central axis E) (d) (The horizontal distance (d) can also refer to D) shown in Fig. 1, the distance of the blade 71 from the point between the blade root 714 and the tip 713 (r = r ₁ , r ₂ , ..., r _n ) And the distance between the unmanned aerial vehicle U and the leaf surface 711 (c) and the like. Moreover, the shutdown information can be obtained through the communication unit 5 and the control system of the fan 7, for example, the deflection angle (Φ) of one of the blades 71 of the fan 7 and the yaw angle of the nacelle 73 of the fan 7 ( Ψ) and the barometer reading of the fan 7, assuming that the blade rotation surface V is a plane and perpendicular to the surface, and is selected to be outwardly expanded along the central axis E of the blade 71 along the virtual blade rotation surface V. The pitch c is formed as the flight path P, and the coordinates (X, Y, Z) of the flight path P are as shown in the following formula (1): The distance (c) between the unmanned aerial vehicle U and the two-leaf surface 711 of the same blade 71 can be set to +c, -c, respectively, and the value of c can be between 1 meter (m) and 5 meters. In this example, the number of the blades 71 is three, and the number of each blade 71 can be sequentially set to 71 (0), 71 (1), 71 (2) in the clockwise direction, due to the blades 71 (0) ), 71(1), 71(2) are equiangular (120°) separated, and the deflection angle of the blade 71(0) can be set to (Φ), and the deflection angle of the blade 71(1) is (Φ+120°). The deflection angle of the blade 71(2) is (Φ+240°); in addition, the barometer reading of the fan 7 can be used as a correction reference for the power output, so that the unmanned aerial vehicle U moves along the flight path P (eg, Figure 3).

The above is that the blade rotation surface V is a plane and is perpendicular to the surface, and is selected from the blade rotation surface V to extend the pitch c equidistantly along the central axes E of the blades T to form the flight path P. By way of example, when the blade rotation surface V is a conical surface, or the virtual blade rotation surface V is intended to be outwardly expanded along the edge of the cross-sectional area T, the person familiar with the art can still In this way, the unmanned aerial vehicle U is obtained along the flight path P, and details are not described herein.

In addition, the foregoing method embodiments of the present invention can also be written into a computer program by using a programming language (such as C++, Java, etc.) (for example, a fan blade inspection operation program, a flight path for unmanned flying vehicles for inspecting fan blades) Program), the program code is written in a way that is familiar to the programmer and can be used to generate a computer program product for the internal storage program. When the unmanned aerial vehicle U's electronic control module is loaded into the program After being executed, the above method embodiments of the present invention can be completed.

In addition, the computer program product can also be stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a memory card, a hard disk, a compact disc or a USB flash drive, etc., when the unmanned aerial vehicle U is electrically controlled. After the above program is loaded and executed, the above method embodiment of the present invention can be completed as a basis for the cooperative operation of the electronic control module of the present invention.

The above-mentioned computer-readable recording medium embodiment using the unmanned aerial vehicle to generate a method for the fan blade photography, the computer program product of the internal storage program and the internal storage program can be planned and applied when the fan is in a shutdown state. The flight path for correctly capturing the fan blade image is used to control the unmanned aerial vehicle to automatically fly around the opposite two-leaf surface of the plurality of blades of the fan, sequentially photographing toward different leaf surfaces, and outputting the photography result to the servo The platform can achieve the effects of "satisfying fan leaf image" and "shortening fan leaf surface inspection time".

While the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments described above, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. The technical scope of the invention is protected, and therefore the scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (10)

A method for generating a blade surface photography using an unmanned aerial vehicle for performing an electronic control module for generating an unmanned aerial vehicle, such that the unmanned aerial vehicle flies around a plurality of blades of a wind turbine, the plurality of The blades are equiangularly separated, and each blade is expanded from a central axis to two sides to form two side edges. The central axis of each blade is coplanar to a virtual vertical rotating surface, and each blade has a leaf tip and a blade root, and the leaves of each blade The root system is pivotally coupled to one of the hubs of the fan with the central axis as an axis, and any side edge of each blade of the fan in the stopped state is oriented toward the extension of the hub of the fan. The method comprises the steps of: Setting a blade of the fan in the stopped state to a reference line of the virtual blade rotation surface; and expanding the pitch of the virtual blade rotation surface equidistantly along the reference line to form a leaf circumference track as a flight path. The method is used to control the unmanned aerial vehicle to sequentially circumscribe the blades along the flight path. According to the first aspect of the patent application scope, the method for generating a blade surface photography by using an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the electronic control module obtains characteristic information of the wind turbine from a servo platform, and obtains the control information of the wind turbine Downtime information. According to the second aspect of the patent application scope, the method for generating a windfed photograph by using an unmanned aerial vehicle, wherein the characteristic information includes a geographical coordinate of the wind turbine, a height of a hub of the wind turbine, and a tower top of the wind turbine to The horizontal distance of the hub, the distance between the blade from the blade root to the tip of the blade, and the distance between the unmanned aerial vehicle and the blade surface. The shutdown information includes the deflection angle of one of the blades of the fan and the cabin of the fan. Yaw angle. The method for generating a blade surface photography using an unmanned aerial vehicle according to the first aspect of the patent application, wherein the spacing extending equidistantly along the reference line is between 1 and 5 meters. . Foliar photography of wind turbines using unmanned aerial vehicles as described in item 1 of the scope of the patent application A path generation method, wherein the reference line is the central axis of each blade. A method for producing a windfed photograph of a wind turbine using an unmanned aerial vehicle according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the reference line is an edge of a cross-sectional area of the blade that is cut by the virtual blade rotation surface. The method for generating a windfed photograph by using an unmanned aerial vehicle according to the first aspect of the patent application, wherein the flight path has a plurality of positioning points, and the positioning point is located at a turning point of the flight path. A method for producing a blade foliar photography using an unmanned aerial vehicle according to claim 7 of the scope of the patent application, wherein the positioning point is adjacent to a blade tip or a blade root of each blade. A computer program product of a built-in program, when an electronic control module for a fan blade photographing operation is loaded into the program and executed, the method of any one of claims 1 to 8 can be completed. A computer-readable recording medium for a built-in program, which can be completed as described in any one of claims 1 to 8 after an electronic control module for a fan blade photographing operation is loaded into the program and executed. Methods.